***AUTHOR'S NOTE***

This one is set right after the last one, however there will first be a small flashback period. Enjoy :) Oh, and just in case you get confused, when Mirany's talking to someone in her head she's doing it while she's talking to someone else in front of her, I just couldn't write them on top of each other.

"A kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come back into being, nor can the dead ever be brought back to life." - Sun Tzu

Previously on Angel

"Do you know how my parents died?"

Angel shook his head, wary of the answer.

"They were killed by vampires, right in front of me. Two of them held me down while the others pigged out."

...

"Who are you?"

"My name's Kay. I want to help you."

"We fight on our own," said Angel. "You want to help? Stay out of my way."

...

"Didn't your parents ever tell you not to play with knives? Guess that was coming up. Too bad they died before they could."

Mirany clutched the hilt of her knife firmly as the vampire smirked.

"I don't think we were ever properly introduced. I'm Kalem, and this is the rest of my crew."

...

"They killed my parents," said Mirany. "I should have killed him then and there."

...

"You don't want to find them?" asked Angel.

"Of course I want to find them," said Mirany. "But what if I find out that the reason they were hired or whatever to kill my parents was because they were bad people or something? I don't wanna know that. I've been hunting them for two years. To find out why. Why my parents? Why then? To finally have something to go on is amazing but...I'm not sure I want to hear their side of the story any more."

"Mirany, your parents weren't bad people," said Angel. "They were exceptional people."

...

"I know these people. They're Watchers," said Mirany. "They have a son. He's a telepath. It's the same sort of thing as mum and dad."

...

"Can you tell us anything about the people that took your parents?"

"They were vampires," said Brydan. "And there was this woman there too."

He handed Angel a portrait of the woman he was talking about.

"Kay," Mirany hissed.

...

The room was covered in pictures of people. Completely covered. Walls, ceiling, windows, door. It was a stalker's dream room, except that the pictures were of different people, of different ages, races, appearances. Angel identified Mark and Tanya Hunter, along with Mirany and Brydan, but they were only a few of the hundreds.

"What's the betting they're all Watchers?" asked Angel.

"I'm going to kill her," Mirany snarled.

"Somehow I'm thinking that you and Brydan aren't the only ones with special abilities born into Watcher families."

"All these people...they were targetted. We're going to make this stop."

...

"What the hell do you mean, they could still be alive?" Lilah snapped.

"I mean just that Lilah," said Mirany. "It's the only explanation that makes sense. I need to find them. I need to link computers. I need as much power as I can get."

"If we link interfaces, I'd be jeopardising my entire career," said Lilah.

"Lilah! This our parents!"

...

"I guess reincarnation really does exist," Mirany said coolly.

Mark and Tanya looked calmly at her.

"We're glad to see you awake," said her mother.

"We have a lot of explaining to do," he said. "I guess the best place to start is the beginning."

MIRANY

I stared from mum to dad and back again.

"I don't want to listen to some story you managed to cook up while I was asleep!" I snapped. "In fact, I don't want to listen to you at all. You cannot possibly hope to justify this! Where's Angel?"

"We'll tell you after you listen to us," said Mark calmly.

But there was no way I was going to accept that answer. No way in hell.

Angel? Angel, can you hear me?

He can't, but I can.

Brydan?

"Mirany just hear us out," said Tanya. "Then you can make your own decision about all this."

"I've already made my decision! Let me go."

"Well then hear us out and we might be able to change it," said Mark.

Where's Angel?

Unconscious beside me. Mirany, have you seen my parents?

No Brydan, but we'll find them, I swear. Where are you?

In some sort of dungeon somewhere beneath you. I can tell that we're definitely in the same building as you.

I was shaking more violently now.

"Why should I listen to you? What could you possibly have to say that would make everything alright? I want to leave!"

"We can't let you do that sweetheart," said dad.

Seen anyone?

Nup. There's no one down here but us. But I'm on red alert just in case.

Good, stay that way. You might need to fight.

"Don't call me that," I growled. "I'm not your sweetheart any more. I haven't been for three years. I'd finally let you go and now you come back into my life! You can't just do that! I was better off with you dead!"

Fight who? What's going on?

Nothing good, I can assure you. Just keep your guard up.

I have no intention of letting it down.

"Mirany, you searched for us," mum pointed out.

"Only because you got me involved! You told them to make me come after them! You used the same group of vampires!" I yelled. "You've been going after Watcher families with special abilities for years! And you set up someone I trusted to take the fall! I KNOW IT ALL! I KNOW WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING! YOU CAN'T LIE TO ME!"

"YOU KNOW NOTHING!" Mark roared in frustration. "LISTEN TO US MIRANY!"

I was abruptly silenced. I hadn't known him as one to usually raise his voice jsut because he was a little angry. I was shaking terribly now. I couldn't decide which of my emotions was the strongest. They were all mixed up together and I couldn't even identify one from the other. Mark placed his hand gently on mine. I want to withdraw from him, but my hand wouldn't let me. Tears were forming in the corners of my eyes. I hadn't seen them in so long and here I was, fighting with them.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" I whispered. "Why did you have to die?"

"Let us explain Mirany," said dad. "Just calm down and listen to what we have to say."

Brydan, is he awake yet?

I don't think he's gonna wake up for a fairly long time Mirany. He looks pretty dead to the world. IF he wasn't a vampire the blow probably would have killed him. He's not waking up for a while.

I sighed quietly.

"Mirany, please," said Tanya.

Is anyone else with you?

Connor's unconscious, that's it.

"Fine," I muttered. "You better start explaining."

...

ANGEL

Mirany?

The moment I woke up I was thinking about Mirany. The last thing I remembered was trying to find out where she was, the someone swinging a baseball bat at my head.

"She won't reply," said Brydan, who was sitting wiht his back against the wall. "She probably didn't even hear you. They've blocked the connection."

"What can block a blood bond?" I asked, pushing myself to my feet and staring around.

We were in some sort of dungeon, and the corridor outside the cell was too dimly lit to make out anything of use to us. Connor was unconscious at my side, and Brydan looked like he'd basically lost hope.

"No idea. Gotta be a really powerful spell or something I would assume. She's here though. In the building. Just can't ask her where."

"Wes, Lilah, Cordy?" I asked.

"Lilah's here, the others aren't. I tried to contact them but I can't contact anyone outside of this building. Same sort of spell I think. I tried to talk to Lilah but she told me to bug off. Apparently she can take care of herself. I was trying to get her to at least tell me how they got her when they moved her to the same place as Mirany."

"You talked to Mirany?"

"Yeah, and she was halfway through telling me something important apparently when she cut off."

Connor moaned slightly and opened his eyes.

"Ah, dear god. What did they hit me with?" he groaned.

"Baseball bat," said Brydan. "They didn't hit me. I think they thought I wouldn't survive it or something. Don't know. They were well trained with the mind blocking thing. Apparently anyone who has any connection to what's going on here is. They just chloroformed me."

"We have to find Mirany," I said.

"How? In case you haven't noticed dad, were in a cell," Connor pointed out.

"They send someone down every few hours to check we're not tearing each other apart or something," said Brydan. "They always have a key."

I grinned.

"Alright then. Plan- Ah!"

Both Brydan and I clutched at our foreheads. Images flashed into my head in quick succession. A dark room. A disfigured humanish shape. Lilah hanging bleeding in chains. Knives slashing downwards. I opened my eyes as the pain vanished. Brydan was staring at me in horror, panting hard.

"She's trying to break through the spell," he gasped. "She probably can't talk to us, and probably won't be able to hear anything we say, but sometimes when a person's in real danger the adreniline kick boosts their power. They can partially break through even the strongest of spells. She's trying to communicate best she can."

"You mean what we just saw is what she's seeing right now?" I asked.

Brydan nodded.

"What'd you see?" asked Connor.

"I think she's trying to tell us where she is and what's going on. One thing's for sure, she's not enjoying it," I muttered. "That figure...I think we're dealing with shape-shifters."

"Why plural? I only saw one," said Brydan.

"So did I," I said. "But I'm positive Mirany's parent's died. If both of them are alive at the moment though, then there's gotta be more than one thing taking on an appearance that they shouldn't. And what better way to gain the Slayer's trust than to be her parents?"

"They're gonna kill her," said Connor. "We don't hav eitme to wait for someone to come down here. We have to get out now."

"What was Lilah doing there?" asked Brydan.

"They probably have a grudge agaisnt the whole family, not just Mirany," I said, kicking at the lock repeatedly. The metal was bending, but not breaking. "I can't believe I didn't figure this out before. Vampires have always been lackies for the shape-shifters. It makes sense."

"What do they want with my parents then?" asked Brydan.

"Probably nothing, sorry to say," I said. "They've probably only been killing Watchers in the hope that someone would go to Mirany. If they were kids of Watchers and they died in the same way as her parents, Mirany'd be much more likely to follow up on it."

I kicked again and the door finally spung open.

"Alright. Let's go find her."

...

MIRANY

My wrists throbbed painfully from holding my dead weight. My knees almost touched the floor, and I could have stood up I could have found the strength, but as far and strength went I was sadly lacking at this point. Across the room stood the thing that had been my father, keeping to the shadows. I saw the silver of a long knive that he was turning over in his fingers. He was just waiting for any excuse to cause us pain.

Lilah was hanging from the ceiling nearby, covered in blood, her head hanging low. I wasn't even sure whether or not she was conscious. No, wait, she was conscious. She'd glanced at me worriedly. Like I was in a worse condition than her. Actually, if I was in worse condition than her, that might explain the blurred edges of my vision.

I was sure I'd managed to send some sort of message to Angel and Brydan. I hadn't felt the spell blocking when I sent it like I felt the spell now. If was like a huge pressure on my brain and certainly did not help my predicament. Every time I tried to talk to Angel my head felt like it was on fire. It certainly stopped me from trying too hard.

The door to the room opened and for a moment I was sure that it would be Angel that walked in, but then I heard the voice of the other shape-shifter, the one that had not only been my mother, but I had found out had also been Kay. Angel had been right not to trust her after all.

I couldn't understand a word they were saying to each other. They were speaking in some random language I had never heard before, probably one that they'd made up, but I could tell that they were agitated. Their tones were worried and angry. They spoke urgently for a few minutes, with me listening in, hoping that they would speak English so that I would be able to understand. But they didn't, and once their conversation was over, the door closed and we were left alone with the demon again.

"I've just had some rather disturbing news," said the demon, coming over to me. "Angel and the two others have apparently disappeared. You wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?"

"Why do you assume it's my fault that you have a security issue?" I spat. "Do I look like I'm in any condition to aid and abeit right now?"

The manacles around my wrists sprung open and, caught by surprise, I sprawled on the floor. The demon stood above me, snarling slightly.

"Stand up Slayer," he growled.

"Actually I'm quite comfortable here. I really think I'll-"

The shape-shifter didn't let me finish, dragging me to my feet by my ear. It glared at me for a moment before swinging a hammer-like fist into my jaw. I staggered away and it kicked me hard in the solar plexus. I doubled over, groaning, but it didn't give me any time to recovered, sending a knee into my face, making me drop to all fours.

I could taste blood running from my nose into my mouth, and I was pretty sure he'd broken a couple of my ribs with that kick. But he didn't stop. One, two, three, four kicks to my stomach and chest had me curled up on the ground, barely conscious through the pain. If my ribs hadn't been cracked before, they were definitely broken now.

"Pathetic," the demon spat. "I expected more."

Through pain-blurred eyes, I watched him move over to Lilah, unchaining her. He was going to kill her. She wouldn't survive a beating like that. I barely had. The demon was one of the strongest I'd ever come across. I couldn't rely on Angel to find us in time, even if he had managed to escape wherever it was that he had been.

Lilah groaned with pain as he hit her.

"Stop," I whispered.

The demon paused, looking down at me with amusement.

"What?" he all but chuckled.

"Stop," I repeated more firmly.

I struggled to my feet, trying to ignore the pain that was pulsing through my body. I knew what I had to do, I just hoped I'd be able to come back from it before I hurt anyone that didn't need to be hurt. I dropped my defenses and the wolf took over at once. Human canines became fangs, fingernails turned to claws, and vision increased ten fold as my eyes yellowed.

...

I pushed the human part of myself where I had been, in the darkest corner of my mind and body, as I took over completely. I was so glad to be out of my confines, but even my joy of being free wasn't enough to abate the anger I was feeling right now.

I snarled at the demon angrily. The pain was nothing. The wounds would heal, but my anger was uncontrollable. I dived at the shape-shifter, ripping at it with my claws and trying ot latch onto it's throat with my teeth. It put up a good fight, but it was no match, not for me. My fangs found it's jugular and tore at it, ripping it right out of the demon's body. The demon froze, a look of horror on it's face, then dropped to the ground without a sound. Green blood pooled around it, smelling putrid.

As I stepped away from the body, the unmistake scent of human blood filled my nose and I turned to see the woman backed against the wall, looking disgusted and watching me closely. I came right up to her, sniffing at her wounds and sizing her up. She didn't look like she'd put up much of a fight either.

She was looking scared now. But as I began to flex my hands and bare my fangs, getting ready for the kill, I could feel the human trying to take back control of my body. I tried to fight her off, but I had only been in control of this body for a minute or so. I didn't have a good grasp on it and I felt myself slipping. I let out a howl then was put back to sleep.

...

I stared at Lilah for a moment as I regained control of my body, pushing back my wolf side to where it had been before.

"Lily..."

I couldn't get any further. My knees gave out and a wave of blackness fell upon me as I hit the floor.

...

ANGEL

"She's close," said Brydan. "I can sense it."

"Well done psychic boy," said Kay as she stepped out of a room nearby. "But you're going to have to go through me first if you want to get to her."

"What have you done to her?" Connor growled, his fists clenched angrily. He looked about ready to kick this bitch right back to whatever hell dimension she'd come from, and I certainly felt the same.

"Mirany's really not the person you should be worrying about right now," said Kay. "If I were you, I'd be a bit more concerned with your own welfare. You should ahve let me join you Angel."

"What? So that we could be put through this scenario whilst trying to fight against the strongest vampire that ever lived? Thanks but no thanks," I spat.

"Where are my parents?" Brydan demanded.

Kay raised an eyebrow at him.

"Here I was thinking that you were a smart boy," she said. "Think about it for a moment. Once you'd gone to the Slayer, what use would we have had for them?"

Brydan moved towards her, looking murderous, but Connor held him back.

"It's not worth it Brydan," he said firmly. "She wants you to do it."

"YOU KILLED MY PARENTS! I'LL KILL YOU!" Brydan shouted, wrestling with Connor.

"That's what they all say," said Kay, sounding bored as she examined her nails.

Brydan snarled and his eyes flashed white for a second. Kay staggered.

"Brydan, what are you doing?" I asked, staring at him apprehensively as he shook violently with rage.

He didn't seem to hear me. His eyes flashed again as he stared daggers at Kay, who was sinking to her knees as she changed to her real form, clutching at her head, her face screwed up in pain.

"Stop," she gasped. "What are you doing to me? Stop!"

But Brydan seemed well beyond any stopping point. The shape-shifter let off an ear-peircing scream as it collapsed. Green blood trickled from it's eyes and ears. Brydan looked away, his eyes normal again. There was silence for a long time in the corridor as we all absorbed what he'd done.

"Are we gonna find Mirany or what?" he asked eventually.

There was a loud howl from the room the shape-shifter had appeared from and I dashed inside to see Mirany collapse in front of Lilah.

"Mirany!"

I rushed to her side and shook her roughly, trying to wake her up.

"Are you okay?" Connor asked Lilah.

"Fine," said Lilah quickly, crouching down beside me and watching her sister worriedly. Mirany's eyes fluttered open.

"Angel?" she mumbled.

I pulled her up so that she was resting in my lap. Lilah took hold of her hand.

"Did I do it?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," said Lilah. "Yes Mirany, the demon's gone."

"Did I hurt-?" Mirany grunted in pain, cutting herself short.

"No," said Lilah. "You stopped Mirany. You did it."

I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about, and was goign to ask, but Lilah gave me an 'I'll explain later' sort of look.

"Right," I said. "We need to get you home."

Mirany mumbled in agreement as I lifted her into my arms.

...

"Guess we were wrong about your parents teaching you not to think outside the square. They really are, unfortunately, dead," I said, handing Mirany a beer and sitting down beside her.

"Uh huh," Mirany grunted, playing with the drink.

"Are you disappointed?"

Mirany considered me.

"No," she said finally. "No, I'd much rather my aprents dead than killing people."

Mirany took a swing and stared at the wall, sighing.

"We never found out why," she said.

"Doesn't matter, not when they're demons," I said, running my fingers through her hair. "They just wanted to kill."

Mirany rested against my chest and wrapped my arm around her waist.

"Whoa, okay. If you two are going to have a moment, could you get a room?" asked Brydan, pulling a face as he walked by.

"Hey, I'm letting you stay here but don't think that I won't kick you straight back out again," said Mirany. "I can do what I like, where I like. You're the one that's restricted on that. Keep all your chicks upstairs and limit your time down here. Why are you here anyway? I thought you had to meet someone."

"I did, and now I'm back," said Brydan.

"Then go away and leave me and my vampire in peace."

"I didn't realise you owned me," I said in her ear.

"I have always owned you," I informed him. "Even when I didn't like you."

"Fine," muttered Brydan. "Like I want to hang around you two at the moment anyway."

He left the room without a backwards glance and Mirany poked her tongue out after him.

"Mature," I commented.

"No one informed me that I had to be mature. Only that I had to stop killing people."

I rolled my eyes, kissing her cheek before working my way down her jaw line and neck.

"Angel?"

"Mmm?"

"Why is he staying with me?"

"Because he did something that someone with the amount of control over their power that he has shouldn't be able to do. I just want to keep an eye on him."

"Brydan's not going to turn into some crazy killing machine Angel," she said.

"It doesn't hurt to keep an eye out Mirany," I said. "I just want to be sure."

"Well..."

Mirany got to her feet, pulling me with her.

"...I'm sure you can take your eyes off him for a while," she said, leading me into her bedroom and closing the door. "After all, I'm a lot prettier than he is."

I smiled as she kissed me.

"Couldn't agree more."

***AUTHOR'S NOTE***

This is the end of season 3 :D I'll start another one soon :) Hope you enjoyed this and don't forget to review :)